Sunroof closed

I woke up today to find the garbage bag I put over the hole in my roof barely worked at all, and the inside of my car was soaked. Oh, what a Charlie Brown existence I lead.

I headed to a dealership, and, four hours and $196 later, the sunroof is closed. It totally sucks that I had to spend a couple hundred on something that, a week ago, wasn't even in the realm of possibility. However, the diagnostic alone cost $90, and after an hour of working on it, they could not get it closed, and came over to tell me the bad news. I looked outside, saw that it was still raining, and the thought of getting back in the soaking wet vehicle and then going out in the rain depressed the hell out of me. I begged and pleaded them to keep at it, and I told them it didn't matter if it ever worked again, I just needed it shut. I asked them to force it, to do whatever it takes.

Well, they went back to working on it, and finally got it shut. They also turned off the switch, so I never have to worry about it.

I also got an estimate of how much the power steering will be to fix. The price is through the roof: $2125. Dumping a couple thousand dollars into a 6-year old car with over 100,000 miles on it probably isn't going to happen, and I asked them if it was a pressing problem. They said that, no, it wasn't, just to make sure I continue to add power steering fluid all the time to it.

I have an appointment on July 10 for a place a blogfriend recommended. We'll see if his estimate is any better, and if what else he says. I'm hoping this is something that can be accomplished in three digits, not four, and that I can get by until the fall.